Amass, tempt the Ring, and draw four every single turn

Format: Commander (EDH)
Featured Card: Sauron, the Dark Lord
Metagame Position: Top-15 trending commander on EDHREC this month and climbing
Approx. Cost: Scales from ~$120 budget to $900+ optimized

Overview

Sauron, the Dark Lord is one of the most complete commanders ever printed and he is having a moment on EDHREC again this month. Six mana in Grixis buys you a ward that is nearly impossible to pay honestly, a punisher trigger that grows an Army every time an opponent casts a spell, and a card advantage engine that refills your hand to four whenever the Ring tempts you.

The engine loop is the appeal. Opponents cast spells, you amass Orcs. Your Army connects, the Ring tempts you. The Ring tempting you lets you discard your hand and draw four. In a four-player pod, that trigger fires constantly — and because the discard is a cost you choose, you are never punished for having a good hand.

The build below leans into that loop rather than fighting it. Reanimation (Reanimate, Animate Dead, Living Death, Victimize) turns the discard clause into a resource. Orc payoffs (Orcish Bowmasters, Lord of the Nazgul, Orcish Siegemaster) turn amass tokens into real pressure. And Grixis interaction — Counterspell, Terminate, Chaos Warp, Toxic Deluge — keeps you alive long enough to grind.

Power level is flexible. As listed this is a strong, upgraded mid-to-high bracket deck. Pull the Game Changers (The One Ring, Rhystic Study, Cyclonic Rift, Demonic Tutor, Vampiric Tutor) and it settles nicely into a casual pod without losing its identity.

The Decklist

Commander (1)

  • 1x Sauron, the Dark Lord

Creatures (24)

  • 1x Orcish Bowmasters
  • 1x Sheoldred, the Apocalypse
  • 1x Lord of the Nazgul
  • 1x Orcish Siegemaster
  • 1x The Mouth of Sauron
  • 1x Sauron, the Necromancer
  • 1x Grishnakh, Brash Instigator
  • 1x Gothmog, Morgul Lieutenant
  • 1x The Balrog of Moria
  • 1x Warg Rider
  • 1x Corsairs of Umbar
  • 1x Moria Scavenger
  • 1x Archfiend of Ifnir
  • 1x Cavern-Hoard Dragon
  • 1x Saruman the White
  • 1x Grima, Saruman’s Footman
  • 1x Ringwraiths
  • 1x Nightscape Familiar
  • 1x Treasure Nabber
  • 1x Dunland Crebain
  • 1x Gollum, Patient Plotter
  • 1x Nazgul
  • 1x Witch-king of Angmar
  • 1x Anger

Instants (11)

  • 1x Counterspell
  • 1x Arcane Denial
  • 1x Swan Song
  • 1x An Offer You Can’t Refuse
  • 1x Terminate
  • 1x Chaos Warp
  • 1x Deadly Rollick
  • 1x Sauron’s Ransom
  • 1x Saruman’s Trickery
  • 1x Entomb
  • 1x Malakir Rebirth

Sorceries (11)

  • 1x Reanimate
  • 1x Blasphemous Act
  • 1x Toxic Deluge
  • 1x Living Death
  • 1x Victimize
  • 1x Faithless Looting
  • 1x Claim the Precious
  • 1x Windfall
  • 1x Extract from Darkness
  • 1x Rise of the Dark Realms
  • 1x Dark Ritual

Enchantments (8)

  • 1x Call of the Ring
  • 1x One Ring to Rule Them All
  • 1x Animate Dead
  • 1x Dreadhorde Invasion
  • 1x Necromancy
  • 1x Black Market Connections
  • 1x Phyrexian Arena
  • 1x Storm of Saruman

Artifacts (9)

  • 1x Sol Ring
  • 1x Arcane Signet
  • 1x Relic of Sauron
  • 1x Talisman of Dominance
  • 1x Talisman of Indulgence
  • 1x Talisman of Creativity
  • 1x Fellwar Stone
  • 1x Lightning Greaves
  • 1x Palantir of Orthanc

Lands (36)

  • 1x Command Tower
  • 1x Crumbling Necropolis
  • 1x Barad-dur
  • 1x The Black Gate
  • 1x Minas Morgul
  • 1x Mount Doom
  • 1x Bojuka Bog
  • 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
  • 1x Cabal Coffers
  • 1x Rogue’s Passage
  • 1x Watery Grave
  • 1x Blood Crypt
  • 1x Steam Vents
  • 1x Drowned Catacomb
  • 1x Dragonskull Summit
  • 1x Sulfur Falls
  • 1x Underground River
  • 1x Sulfurous Springs
  • 1x Choked Estuary
  • 1x Foreboding Ruins
  • 1x Sunken Hollow
  • 1x Smoldering Marsh
  • 1x Exotic Orchard
  • 1x Path of Ancestry
  • 1x Reliquary Tower
  • 1x Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
  • 1x Otawara, Soaring City
  • 1x Field of Ruin
  • 8x Swamp
  • 3x Island
  • 2x Mountain

Paste-Ready Import List

1 Sauron, the Dark Lord
1 Orcish Bowmasters
1 Sheoldred, the Apocalypse
1 Lord of the Nazgul
1 Orcish Siegemaster
1 The Mouth of Sauron
1 Sauron, the Necromancer
1 Grishnakh, Brash Instigator
1 Gothmog, Morgul Lieutenant
1 The Balrog of Moria
1 Warg Rider
1 Corsairs of Umbar
1 Moria Scavenger
1 Archfiend of Ifnir
1 Cavern-Hoard Dragon
1 Saruman the White
1 Grima, Saruman's Footman
1 Ringwraiths
1 Nightscape Familiar
1 Treasure Nabber
1 Dunland Crebain
1 Gollum, Patient Plotter
1 Nazgul
1 Witch-king of Angmar
1 Anger
1 Counterspell
1 Arcane Denial
1 Swan Song
1 An Offer You Can't Refuse
1 Terminate
1 Chaos Warp
1 Deadly Rollick
1 Sauron's Ransom
1 Saruman's Trickery
1 Entomb
1 Malakir Rebirth
1 Reanimate
1 Blasphemous Act
1 Toxic Deluge
1 Living Death
1 Victimize
1 Faithless Looting
1 Claim the Precious
1 Windfall
1 Extract from Darkness
1 Rise of the Dark Realms
1 Dark Ritual
1 Call of the Ring
1 One Ring to Rule Them All
1 Animate Dead
1 Dreadhorde Invasion
1 Necromancy
1 Black Market Connections
1 Phyrexian Arena
1 Storm of Saruman
1 Sol Ring
1 Arcane Signet
1 Relic of Sauron
1 Talisman of Dominance
1 Talisman of Indulgence
1 Talisman of Creativity
1 Fellwar Stone
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Palantir of Orthanc
1 Command Tower
1 Crumbling Necropolis
1 Barad-dur
1 The Black Gate
1 Minas Morgul
1 Mount Doom
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Cabal Coffers
1 Rogue's Passage
1 Watery Grave
1 Blood Crypt
1 Steam Vents
1 Drowned Catacomb
1 Dragonskull Summit
1 Sulfur Falls
1 Underground River
1 Sulfurous Springs
1 Choked Estuary
1 Foreboding Ruins
1 Sunken Hollow
1 Smoldering Marsh
1 Exotic Orchard
1 Path of Ancestry
1 Reliquary Tower
1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
1 Otawara, Soaring City
1 Field of Ruin
8 Swamp
3 Island
2 Mountain

Strategy Guide

Early Game (Turns 1-3)

  • Ramp and interact. Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, and the Talisman cycle get you to six mana on turn four, which is where the deck actually starts.
  • Orcish Bowmasters is your best turn-two play in a pod — it punishes the fetch/cantrip openers and starts the Orc count early.
  • Call of the Ring on turn two is quietly one of the strongest cards in the deck. It starts tempting you before Sauron is even down.
  • Entomb and Faithless Looting set up reanimation targets. Ditching Archfiend of Ifnir or The Balrog of Moria early is fine — you have four ways to get them back.

Mid Game (Turns 4-6)

  • Cast Sauron. His ward — sacrifice a legendary artifact or legendary creature — means most tables simply cannot remove him at instant speed.
  • Every opponent spell now grows your Army. In a healthy four-player pod that’s three to six amass triggers per turn cycle.
  • Connect once with the Army and the loop starts: tempt the Ring, discard, draw four. Do the math before you discard — you keep whatever you cast first.
  • Lightning Greaves is the cheapest way to force a connection on the turn Sauron lands. Rogue’s Passage does the same job for free.

Late Game (Turn 7+)

  • Living Death and Rise of the Dark Realms are the haymakers — you have been filling graveyards all game, including your opponents’.
  • Lord of the Nazgul turns your instant/sorcery count into a wall of 11/11s. It is the fastest kill in the deck.
  • Blasphemous Act and Toxic Deluge are your reset buttons. Your Army tokens survive nothing, so sweep first, then rebuild with a single amass trigger.
  • One Ring to Rule Them All is the closer: it steals the board and ends the game on the spot in most pods.

Win Conditions & Key Interactions

Amass into Lord of the Nazgul — A single Lord turns every Army and Wraith into an 11/11. Two combat steps closes a four-player table.

Sauron loop card advantage — Discard-and-draw-four every turn cycle out-resources the entire pod. You win by simply having three times the cards.

Living Death / Rise of the Dark Realms — You have been discarding all game. Both spells turn that graveyard into an unbeatable board in one card.

One Ring to Rule Them All — Steal every legendary and Ring-bearer creature on the table. In most pods, resolving it is the game.

Reanimator toolbox — Entomb into Reanimate for Archfiend of Ifnir or Cavern-Hoard Dragon is a fast, cheap way to cheat a haymaker into play on turn three or four.

Budget Notes

Premium build: Around $900+ as listed with the Game Changers and premium lands included.

  • The One Ring → Palantir of Orthanc — You lose the protection turn but keep a repeatable card advantage artifact for a fraction of the price.
  • Reanimate → Exhume / Stitch Together — Slightly worse rate, near-identical function in a deck this full of bodies.
  • Cabal Coffers → Crypt of Agadeem — Coffers is a $40 land; the graveyard-based version is fine in a deck that fills yards constantly.
  • Watery Grave / Blood Crypt / Steam Vents → Signet lands + Command Tower + basics — Shocklands are the biggest line item. The deck’s curve tolerates a few taplands.
  • Deadly Rollick → Murder / Bake into a Pie — The free spell is a luxury; a hard-cast removal spell does the same job at this power level.

Quick Video Script

  • Hook: This commander lets you discard your hand and draw four cards — every single turn — and your opponents are the ones powering it.
  • Sauron, the Dark Lord — six mana, and every spell your opponents cast grows your Army for free.
  • Call of the Ring — starts tempting you on turn two, before Sauron even hits the table.
  • Orcish Bowmasters — the best two-drop in black, and it counts as an Orc for the plan.
  • Lord of the Nazgul — makes every Army an 11/11 Wraith. This is how the deck actually kills.
  • Living Death — you have been discarding all game. This is the payoff card.
  • Close: Full 99-card list, budget swaps, and the complete strategy guide are on manariotgames.com. Follow Mana Riot Games for weekly deck tech.

That is this week’s breakdown. Follow Mana Riot Games for a new Standard and Commander deck tech every Monday, and read the rest of our coverage at manariotgames.com.